Open season threatens bluefin tuna

Fishing continues to wreak havoc on the bluefin tuna population.

The WWF has asked all fishing countries to keep their fishery's closed until a scientific plan can be put in place to stop destructive industrial fishing.

Over 150 members of CITES met in Doha, Qatar in March where proposals were rejected to list bluefin tuna in the Appendix I of the convention despite meeting the requirements amply. It was mostly rejected on political grounds and overwhelming lobbying from Japan.

Some major members such as the EU did agree to put in radical measures to protect the species by the next meeting in Paris at the end of this year.

Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean, said "Atlantic bluefin tuna stocks cannot resist for much longer - by all accounts the species is endangered, with current populations dwindling at less than 15 percent of what they once were."

International scientists have said that even an annual catch of 8,000 tonnes would only give at best a 50 percent chance of recovery of Atlantic bluefin tuna.

Such a quota would mean the closure of all Mediterranean fisheries and for them to adapt more traditional methods of fishing such as the tuna traps used around the Straits of Gibraltar that have supported many fishing families for over 3,000 years.

"WWF calls in particular on the EU and Japan - the main catchers and consumers of this endangered species - to lead in honouring their Doha commitments to respect science in fisheries management" said Dr Tudela.

High-tech purse seine fishing vessels with vast sack-like nets which encircle the tuna, are causing the most decline. The WWF has welcomed the decision of Italy to impose a moratorium on its large seine fishing fleet this year and scrap most of the vessels. The WWF also urges other Mediterranean countries to keep their fleets in port.

Poachers could be to blame for rare Javan rhino death

An investigation is underway to determine the exact cause of death of one of the world's rarest large mammals after it was found in a Vietnamese national park.

A scientific examination carried out by WWF indicates poachers were at fault as the rhino had been shot and a horn had been removed. Rhino horns are incredibly valuable in the illegal wildlife trade and are allegedly used in medicine.

Under Vietnam law it is illegal to trade, use or consume parts of an endangered animal and if caught offenders could face imprisonment or large fines.

The body was first discovered by local people in Cat Tien National Park on April 29. A patrol team was dispatched to the scene where the body was confirmed to be that of a Javan rhino.

Vietnamese Javan rhinos are one of two populations of the species left on Earth with an estimated fewer than 60 Javan rhino left. The other population can be found in Ujung kuloN National park in Indonesia with an estimated 40-60 left. There are no Javan rhinos in captivity.

National Policy Coordinator off WWF Vietnam Dung Huynh Tien said "the loss of this rhino is symbolic of the grim situation facing endangered species like the rhino and tiger across Vietnam."

He continues "WWF urges the Vietnamese Government to launch an urgent and extensive criminal investigation into this animal's death."

Rhino poaching met a 15 year high last year with Asia's rising demand for rhino horns and an increase in poachers.

Commercial whaling may go ahead after 25 year ban

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) have announced a proposal to allow the killing of whales in their most precious feeding grounds.

If adopted, the proposal will allow legitimate commercial whaling in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary, despite a ban being imposed there since 1994. The Southern Ocean is home to many species of whales including blue whales, humpback whales and fin whales (pictured).

A moratorium on commercial whaling has been held by the IWC since 1986 but countries such as Norway and Iceland have legal objections to the ban. Japan has continued to conduct commercial whaling by using a loophole saying that is legal to kill whales for "scientific purposes".

The proposal has been announced in an effort to bring whaling under the IWC's control and will give these countries official commercial whaling quotas for the next 10 years.

Wendy Elliott, Species Program manager at WWF-International, said "the proposed quotas are not set sing the IWC's own scientific methods, but are a result of political bargaining which has little if anything to do with the whales' themselves. Setting quotas for commercial whaling based on politics not science would be a step backwards for IWC."

Elliott adds "if there is one place on earth where whales should have full protection, it is the Southern Ocean. Allowing commercial whaling in an area where whales are so vulnerable goes against logic."

The Chair of the IWC has also proposed commercial whaling quotas for whale species listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as endangered. Fin whales and sei whales are both endangered species but if the proposal went ahead it would contribute to the deaths of 65 fin whales and 500 sei whales over a 10 year period.

Before the last ban, commercial whaling cause numbers of the sei whale in the Pacific Ocean to drop from 42,000 to just 8,600. 725,000 fin whales were also killed in the Southern Ocean as a result of commercial whaling and a most recent estimate brings their numbers to just 15,178 suggesting that whales have not yet recovered from the last time commercial whaling was legal.

Members of the IWC will decide at their next meeting in Morocco whether or not to adopt the proposal.

New Zealand's albatrosses under threat

ACAP is holding meetings to discuss new national seabird plans to help protect albatrosses.

New Zealand has become by far the most important area for albatrosses with 18 out of 21 species living and breeding there. However, after leaving the nest some species of this majestic bird spend years at sea. This means that it is not just New Zealand who should be responsible for protecting these birds.

The albatrosses tend to fly around the southern ocean, over South America or South Africa. They spend three to four months of each year off the coast of Chile and Peru but longline fisheries in these areas are what's causing such a dangerous threat to these birds.

Earlier this week, an ACAP (Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels) meeting was held in Argentina and many organisations including the WWF attended. The aim was to co-ordinate agreement and include real commitments to reducing seabird deaths through fishing.

Rebecca Bird, WWF's leading marine campaigner, posted on the New Zealand WWF Facebook page "it was largely a successful meeting". She said that as long as Governments stay commited they will be on track.

She continues "a lot more needs to be done both at sea and on land to ensure the future of these amazing creatures".

New species discovered in Borneo

A 'Ninja slug', a lungless frog and a giant stick insect are just some of the amazing new species discovered on the Borneo island.

Around 120 species have been found in an area designated for conservation and the findings have been published in a report by the WWF.

Among the findings are a long-tailed slug (pictured above) that uses 'love darts' made of calcium carbonate to pierce and inject a hormone into a mate to increase the chances of reproduction.

Researchers also discovered a 57 centimetre long stick insect named "Phobaeticus chani" (pictured left) and a flat-headed frog, known as "Barbourula kalimantanensis" (pictured right), which breathes entirely through it's skin instead of it's lungs.

Adam Tomasek, head of WWF's Heart of Borneo initiative, said "we have been finding on average three new species a month and about 123 over the last three years, with at least 600 new species found in the last 15 years."

New hope for most endangered rhinos

The Sumatran rhino is the most endangered species of rhino in the world but new footage has shown that they could be breeding.

The World Wildlife Fund said that the footage was evidence that the rare rhinoceros's, often labeled the 'hairy rhino' due to their hairy body, were breeding on Borneo Island.

Raymond Alfred from the WWF said that a camera set up in a forest near Malaysia's Sabah state captured stills of one female rhinoceros which appeared to be pregnant. The pictures taken in February are the third piece of evidence since 2007 suggesting that species might be breeding in the wild.

Despite the uncertainty about the rhino's condition, Mr Alfred said "based on the shape and size of the body and stomach it would appear that the rhino is pregnant". These pictures are the first of a wild Sumatran rhino thought to be pregnant and is very good news after the initial failure of the breeding-in-captivity programme for these critically endangered animals. The gestation for these animals can be around 15 to 16 months and on average a mother gives birth to one calf every three years.


The Sumatran rhino is the smallest species of rhinoceros and is poached for it's horns which are used in Chinese medicine. Deforestation has also become a huge factor in their decline and Mr Alfred says the area must be protected from logging activity. In the last 15 years their numbers have fallen 50% with an estimated 200 still in the wild. Conservationists have warned that this rare species could face extinction in the next 10 years.

The Year of the Tiger

The WWF have outlined their plans to make this year a good year for Tigers beginning with the launch of their new campaign.

The WWF, formally the World Wildlife Fund, raises awareness for all kinds of environmental and conservational issues affecting the natural world.

Their campaign is being launched to coincide with the Chinese year of the tiger and will hopefully help to reach their goal of doubling the world's tiger population by 2022 (the next year of the tiger). The WWF are working with world leaders in order to ensure the protection of the species and a global tiger summit will be held in Vladivostok in September this year where this goal will be the main focal point.

The WWF have released an interactive map in advance of the campaign launch which outlines the top ten dangers currently facing tiger's. Forest devastation, poaching and trafficking of tiger bones and skin are being named as some of the main reasons why the global population of wild tigers has dropped from 100,000 at the start of the 20th Century to as low as 3,200 at present. Climate change is also believed to be becoming more of a threat as it is damaging to tiger's habitats.

Head of species at WWF-UK, Diane Walkington, says "Since the last year of the tiger in 1998, tigers have lost 40 percent of their habitat. She continues "Tigers are being persecuted across the globe. They are being poisoned, trapped, snared, shot and squeezed out their homes."

Diane believes the new campaign will really help make a difference. "With 13 countries where wild tigers survive now pledging that they will work towards doubling wild tiger numbers by 2022, there has never been such an ambitious, high-level of commitment from governments to work to save this iconic species".